ANYONE WHO KNOWS ANYTHING TO COME FORWARD. I'M VIC MICOLUCCI, CHANNEL 4, THE LOCAL STATION. TWO VIOLENT ATTACKS ON CAB DRIVERS IN THREE DAYS. POLICE ARE NOT ONLY TRYING TO LEARN WHO DID IT, THEY'RE ALSO TRYING TO DETERMINE IF THE TWO CRIMES ARE RELATED. THE FIRST WAS A MURDER EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AT THIS GATOR CITY TAXI DRIVER. 43-YEAR-OLD STEWART CARSON, FOUND DEAD ON WEST 27TH STREET IN BRENTWOOD. EARLY THIS MORNING, ANOTHER CAB DRIVER WAS ATTACKED, LESS THAN A MILEAGE AWAY IN THE PARK. 71-YEAR-OLD MARCEL GENE GILLIST WAS FOUND STUMBLING ALONG THE ROAD, COVERED WITH BLOOD. MARCUS WHITE IS JOINING US NOW LIVE WITH MORE INFORMATION. THE VICTIM'S NIECE TELLS US THAT HER UNCLE'S CONDITION HAS BEEN IMPROVING. SHE TELLS US HER UNCLE IS IN STABLE CONDITION. MEANWHILE, SHE'S ALSO TELLING US THAT SHE HOPES WHOEVER IS BEHIND THIS VICIOUS ATTACK ARE CAUGHT. POLICE ARE NOT TELLING US MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY BELIEVE THE CRIMES ARE CONNECTED. PEOPLE WHO KNOW HIM SAY HE'S A FAMILY MAN WHO LOVES HIS WIFE, THREE CHILDREN AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS. I JUST TALKED TO HIM LAST NIGHT. I LITERALLY JUST TALKED TO HIM LAST NIGHT. TO WAKE UP THIS MORNING AND HAVE A PHONE CALL LIKE THAT, IT'S PRETTY TRAUMATIC. INVESTIGATORS SAY THE YELLOW CAB DRIVER PICKED UP TWO MEN NEAR THE HYATT HOTEL NEAR DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE. HE SAYS ONE OF THE MEN SAT IN THE FRONT SEAT AND THE OTHER SAT IN THE BACK. HE TOLD POLICE ONE MAN GRABBED HIS NECK AND PUT A KNIFE TO IT, CAUSING IT TO CRASH INTO THE FENCE. THE MEN THEN DEMANDED MONEY. HE GAVE THE MEN BETWEEN $15 AND $20 OF HIS OWN MONEY. THEY HAD IT ALL TAPED OFF. EVERYTHING WAS TAPED OFF AND EVERYTHING. AND I TRIED TO COME OUTSIDE AND THE POLICE RAN ME BACK IN THE HOUSE. INVESTIGATORS SAY THE SUSPECT GOT AWAY AND CALLED POLICE. POLICE FOUND HIM AT THE WILL -- WILSON AND THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. EXPRESSWAY WITH A CUT TO HIS NECK. I KNOW THE COUPLE. THEY'RE REAL QUIET AND DON'T BOTHER ANYBODY. THEY WERE SEEN RUNNING WEST FROM THE SCENE WEARING DARK CLOTHING. ONE OF THEM WAS BADLY HURT BUT COULD NOT WALK. IT'S A SCARY THING BUT IT'S A JOB. YOU'VE GOT TO DO WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO. HER THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THE CARSON FAMILY, STILL DEALING WITH A TRAGEDY OF THEIR OWN. IT'S CRAZY NOW. YOU CAN'T EVEN HAVE A JOB, DO YOUR JOB WITHOUT FEAR OF YOUR LIFE BEING TAKEN AWAY. BOTH YELLOW CAB AND GATOR CITY TAXI ARE PART OF THE NORTHERN FLORIDA TRANSPORTATION GROUP. NO COMMENT FROM THEM TONIGHT. ALSO CITY OFFICIALS ARE DEFERRING COMMENTS TONIGHT, SAYING THIS IS STILL AN ACTIVE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

A cab driver is recovering after he was stabbed and then robbed in the Moncrief Park area early Tuesday morning, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

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Just before 2 a.m. officers were dispatched to a robbery at 19th and Wilson streets in reference to a robbery.

When they arrived at the scene, they found 71-year-old Marcel Jean Gilles with multiple stab wounds to his neck. Officers said Gilles was disoriented, standing in the middle of the intersection.

“Arriving officers were able to piece together that the victim was a cab driver that had been flagged down somewhere in the downtown area," said Sgt. M. D. Clements. "He took his fare, two unknown black male suspects, to the area of 20th and Grunthal, where they proceeded to stab him multiple times and rob him while in the vehicle."

According to JSO, suspect No. 1 grabbed Gilles' hands, keeping them on the steering wheel, while suspect No. 2 grabbed his neck and put a knife to it.

Gilles told police that he panicked and pressed the gas to his cab, causing it to crash into a fence. He said the suspects demanded money. He reached into his pockets and gave them between $15 and $20 of his own money, according to JSO.

After he gave them the money, he fought with the suspects to let him go. During the fight, suspect No. 2 cut him on the back of his neck. After he was cut, he opened the driver's side door and exited the vehicle, according to police. Gilles told police he tried to run away, but the suspects grabbed his legs and tried to pull him back.

Gilles told them there was more money in the cab, and the suspects let him go, police said.

They said the suspects attempted to drive away with the vehicle, but were unable to start it. The suspects then fled the scene.

“After the cab driver escaped the vehicle, he was able to travel by foot and other means from 20th and Grunthal, where the incident actually occurred, to 19th and Wilson area, where he was recovered," said Clements.

Gilles was transported to UF Health Jacksonville, where he was initially said to have life-threatening injuries. But soon after he was treated, Gilles was upgraded to stable condition.

“The two black male suspects are at large. They were last seen wearing all black clothing and fleeing west on West 20th Street from Grunthal. One of them may or may not be injured," said Clements.

Clements said one of the witnesses told police that one of the suspects was seen limping away from the scene, but JSO has not confirmed if one of the suspects was actually injured.

Gilles is a driver for Yellow Cab.

His niece said Tuesday he's improving, and she's glad he was able to survive.

Those who know Gilles said say he's a family man who loves his wife, three children and other family members.

"I just talked to him last night," his niece said. "Literally just talked to him last night. To wake up this morning and have a phone call like that, it's pretty traumatic."

“I’m not familiar with that [other cab robbery] case, and I’m really not authorized or even qualified to say if there will be any familiarization, whether those cases might be linked. Obviously the detective division will be following that up, I’m sure, and they’ll have further information, I’m sure," said Clements.

"I mean, it's scary but it's a job you got to do, what you got to do," said Regina Myers, a Yellow Cab driver.

Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

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